Hey y'all -
So, I'm almost done with my papers, and I'm taking another break to finish writing about this amazing weekend. :)
By the way, the weather has been amazing today! It was kinda hot this morning, but now I'm sitting in a room at the AIRC looking out over the Imperial Forum area (that I'm writing one of my papers about) and all I want to do is go run around outside. It feels glorious. Anyway...
On Sunday, we woke up really early and checked out of our hostel. I walked with Alex, Shyam, Apu, Stephen, and Royce to the train station where we caught a train to Cinque Terra (which means five cities/lands in Italian). There, we hiked and rode a train through the five coastal towns. They were so quaint and beautiful! The views were amazing. When we hiked from Town 1 to Town 2 (they have cute names, but I can't remember them), we stopped to eat right on the edge of the rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was amazing! And the weather was perfect. Not too hot, but just warm enough. In the fifth town, we got to go to the beach for about an hour. It was amazing because the water was so beautiful (especially compared to Galveston). It was perfect... expect the ocean ate my sunglasses. But, now I just have an excuse to get Italian sunglasses. :)
We met up with Vicki and Harvey (they hiked all 13 kilometers through the five towns), and bought train tickets to Pisa. We boarded the train and most people fell asleep pretty quickly.
So... It turns out that we were supposed to change trains somewhere along the way to get to Pisa. Unfortunately, we didn't know that. Shyam and I were talking when we realized that the train hadn't moved in about 15 minutes. So, he went to go check to see if there was a problem. He couldn't find anyone on the train, but eventually found someone who spoke English, who told us that we should have transferred trains one stop back. Oops! We figured out that we could still get to Pisa, but we had to wait around for about an hour for a train. Then, a train took us directly to Pisa. We arrived in Pisa at about 20.00 and quickly walked to the LTP (leaning tower of Pisa) to take pictures before the sun went down. By the way, the grass on the lawns near the LTP is perfect. I wanted to play barefoot tag all day there. But, it had been a long day, and so didn't.
After taking some really adorable pictures, we went to go eat Indian food. I thought I didn't like Indian food. But, apparently, I really like Indian food. (Thanks, Apu and Shyam!)
After dinner, we walked around Pisa for a bit. We found this street next to the river that was like a Pisa 6th Street. (Except not quite as cool.) We sat down for a bit outside just people watching. Then, we headed back to the train station. We waited until 2 AM for the next train going to Roma. We were all really tired and delirious. But, Vicki started a Disney singalong on the train platform, and that was pretty fun. Also, Royce tried to show us magic card tricks, but none of them were really working... Poor Royce.
When we got on the train, only to realize that it had those creepy sleeper cars. (It was HarryPotter-esque.) So we had to split up into two groups of four. We each got about two hours of sleep on the train. Shyam and I stayed up first to watch peoples' bags and we played 20 Questions a few times. Then, he and I got to sleep until we got to Termini. It was about 6 in the morning when we pulled into Roma. Then, we took the metro home and walked back to our apartments. Then, I slept until about 11 this morning. Then, I took a shower and met up with Alex to walk to AIRC.
Since then, we've been to lunch, chatting on Facebook, and writing our papers that are due tomorrow morning.
I'll finish my papers tonight, and then I have a lot of reading to do as well. I really did forgot that I was in school this summer. But at least I'm learning interesting stuff. :) I still can't get over the fact that I'm writing a paper about Trajan's Forum and I'm sitting in what would have been Basilica Ulpia in Trajan's Forum a few thousand years ago. So cool!
Anyway, those were my first weekend adventures! More to come, of course.
I love and miss you all!
Ciao,
Ashley
Monday, June 8, 2009
My First Weekend Adventures - Part I
Hey y'all -
I was going to work on my papers before writing this post, BUT then I went to go get lunch, and I'm not quite ready to start work yet. It'll be fine... I have one paper done (just have to edit a little) and the other outline is started. It shouldn't take me that long. Anyway...
This past weekend was so amazing. Friday started with an early class. It was our first lesson with Dr. Arya. We went back to the Roman Forum and got to talk to this archaeologist who is in charge of restoration of a St. Maria church in the Roman Forum. He was really interesting and talked to us about ways that the process of restoration in that building. He was really knowledgeable and it was cool to see how much work goes in to preserving the buildings that have lasted thousands of years.
After class, a group went to the Colosseum to see the inside structures. As a class, we had already visiting the Arch of Constantine (next door) and seen the Colosseum from the outside. However, the day that I went to see the Colosseum from the inside, I accidentally deleted all the pictures on my camera, so I decided to join the group and go again to get pictures. It was beautiful and amazing and HUGE. I can't believe structures like that have lasted for so long. Also, one of my papers due tomorrow is written on the Colosseum, so it was interesting to see the inside again after doing a lot of research on the subject.
Stephen, Vicki, Apu, Ishanee, and I walked around a bit taking pictures. It was pretty crowded since it was the middle of the afternoon, but still really fun!
After the Colosseum, we took the metro back to our apartments. There, we got a quick lunch and then packed for our weekend trip. Meagan and I went to the internet point near our apartments for a few minutes to check email. Then, at about 2, the group (10 of us) met up and we took the metro to Termini.
We bought train tickets and headed to Florence at around 3. We took a train that made a LOT of stops (I think like 20-something) to keep it more in our budgets. So, we ended up getting to Florence at about 7. Then, we walked to our hostel. I had never stayed in a hostel before, and I was really surprised by how nice it was! It was beautiful, and it was really cool to meet people our age from all over the world.
We ended up getting two rooms at the hostel. The hostel where we stayed had a small dance floor, a really cool light-up colors pool, a sauna, a workout room, a restaurant, and all this other cool stuff. It was definitely worth the money that we spent to reserve rooms.
The group wandered around the hostel for a bit and then headed out to dinner. We went to go get some Bistecca Florentina. It was absolutely delicious. We also shared some bottles of a wine for which Florence is famous. (I don't remember the name.) I'm no wine connoisseur, but it was absolutely delicious. Dinner got really expensive, but it was totally worth it. It was an experience that I'll never have again in my life, after all. Dinner was really fun because the group really bonded together, and I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. (Hey Roma group, I know that most of you read this, so I just want to say that I adore you all.)
After dinner, we went to go get some gelato (of course) because Florence is apparently really famous for great gelato. It was delicious.
We wandered around the town a bit that night, too. We saw the Duomo piazza area, and it was magnificent. The cathedral is so HUGE. It's almost impossible to take a picture of the entire structure.
The group headed back to the hostel to relax for a bit, and then we walked around Florence some more. We saw some interesting things... including a man using the street as a restroom. Other than that, Florence was really classy.
Then, we went to bed because we woke up really early Saturday morning. I rolled out of bed around 7.40. I met up with Alex, Stephen, and Apu in the hostel lobby. Then, the four of us decided to go see the Uffizi in the morning before the line got outrageously long. After eating a really good, European breakfast (croissants and cappuccinos), we got to the Uffizi around 9.00. The four of us waited in line for about 40 minutes, and then walked around the museum seeing really cool, famous art for about 2 and a half hours. Some of my favorite pieces were "The Birth of Venus" and a lot of depictions of the Annunciation of Mary.
After the museum, we got really delicious paninis from a place a few blocks away. Then, we went to Duomo where we climbed all 493 steps to get to the top. The staircases were really curvy, and we couldn't stop laughing, which made it really difficult to climb stairs. Eventually, we made it to the top of the dome, and the view was absolutely incredible (I will upload pictures hopefully this week.)!! We ran into four other guys from our Roma group and some other UT people on top of the Duomo. [Oh, and Travis! Now that I know you read this (you creeper), we also ran into a guy from Stanford. But, he didn't know you. His loss.] The group relaxed there for a long time... about half an hour. Then, we climbed alllll the way back down the 493 steps. Then, the group of four (Alex, Stephen, Apu, and I) went to go see the inside of the cathedral. It was amazingly beautiful.
[Mu Epsilon Theta girls! I will send an email soon, but I'll write it here, too. I lit a candle and said a prayer for Mu Epsilon Theta in the cathedral. Then, I gave an offering of three euros from us. (One for the Father, one for the Son, one for the Holy Spirit.) I just wanted to let y'all know that prayers were being said for us from Europe. So, YAY!]
After the cathedral, we went to go see where the tombs of Michaelangelo, Rossini, Galileo, Machiavelli are located. The church was beautiful, as are most in Italia.
After seeing the tombs, the four of us got some gelato from a different place than the night before (it was delicious). Then, we walked across Ponte Vecchio bridge. The entire bridge is filled with pedestrians all looking into the jewelry shops that line the street. The jewelry was SHINY and beautiful. I was seriously contemplating buying some. It's probably a good thing that I didn't though. :)
The group wandered around Florence some more, and then headed back to the hostel. Then, we went swimming in the pool there. The pool area was really cool! It sounds silly, but the water changed colors. Even though the water was cold, we all had a really good time. We met two guys from Monterrey named Arturo and Juan, and I told them that two of my best friends were named Arturo and Juan. They didn't think it was as cool as I did, but they were really nice. We kept sitting in the sauna and then jumping in the pool (which was absolutely freezing).
After the pool, we went to go get changed, and then hung out in the hostel with all the people in the Plan II group. We played pool and danced for a bit, and we also met some really interesting people from Maine.
Then, we headed to bed.
I'm going to go work on my papers for a bit. I'll write about Sunday and Monday when I'm ready for another break. :)
I love you all!
Ciao,
Ashley
I was going to work on my papers before writing this post, BUT then I went to go get lunch, and I'm not quite ready to start work yet. It'll be fine... I have one paper done (just have to edit a little) and the other outline is started. It shouldn't take me that long. Anyway...
This past weekend was so amazing. Friday started with an early class. It was our first lesson with Dr. Arya. We went back to the Roman Forum and got to talk to this archaeologist who is in charge of restoration of a St. Maria church in the Roman Forum. He was really interesting and talked to us about ways that the process of restoration in that building. He was really knowledgeable and it was cool to see how much work goes in to preserving the buildings that have lasted thousands of years.
After class, a group went to the Colosseum to see the inside structures. As a class, we had already visiting the Arch of Constantine (next door) and seen the Colosseum from the outside. However, the day that I went to see the Colosseum from the inside, I accidentally deleted all the pictures on my camera, so I decided to join the group and go again to get pictures. It was beautiful and amazing and HUGE. I can't believe structures like that have lasted for so long. Also, one of my papers due tomorrow is written on the Colosseum, so it was interesting to see the inside again after doing a lot of research on the subject.
Stephen, Vicki, Apu, Ishanee, and I walked around a bit taking pictures. It was pretty crowded since it was the middle of the afternoon, but still really fun!
After the Colosseum, we took the metro back to our apartments. There, we got a quick lunch and then packed for our weekend trip. Meagan and I went to the internet point near our apartments for a few minutes to check email. Then, at about 2, the group (10 of us) met up and we took the metro to Termini.
We bought train tickets and headed to Florence at around 3. We took a train that made a LOT of stops (I think like 20-something) to keep it more in our budgets. So, we ended up getting to Florence at about 7. Then, we walked to our hostel. I had never stayed in a hostel before, and I was really surprised by how nice it was! It was beautiful, and it was really cool to meet people our age from all over the world.
We ended up getting two rooms at the hostel. The hostel where we stayed had a small dance floor, a really cool light-up colors pool, a sauna, a workout room, a restaurant, and all this other cool stuff. It was definitely worth the money that we spent to reserve rooms.
The group wandered around the hostel for a bit and then headed out to dinner. We went to go get some Bistecca Florentina. It was absolutely delicious. We also shared some bottles of a wine for which Florence is famous. (I don't remember the name.) I'm no wine connoisseur, but it was absolutely delicious. Dinner got really expensive, but it was totally worth it. It was an experience that I'll never have again in my life, after all. Dinner was really fun because the group really bonded together, and I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. (Hey Roma group, I know that most of you read this, so I just want to say that I adore you all.)
After dinner, we went to go get some gelato (of course) because Florence is apparently really famous for great gelato. It was delicious.
We wandered around the town a bit that night, too. We saw the Duomo piazza area, and it was magnificent. The cathedral is so HUGE. It's almost impossible to take a picture of the entire structure.
The group headed back to the hostel to relax for a bit, and then we walked around Florence some more. We saw some interesting things... including a man using the street as a restroom. Other than that, Florence was really classy.
Then, we went to bed because we woke up really early Saturday morning. I rolled out of bed around 7.40. I met up with Alex, Stephen, and Apu in the hostel lobby. Then, the four of us decided to go see the Uffizi in the morning before the line got outrageously long. After eating a really good, European breakfast (croissants and cappuccinos), we got to the Uffizi around 9.00. The four of us waited in line for about 40 minutes, and then walked around the museum seeing really cool, famous art for about 2 and a half hours. Some of my favorite pieces were "The Birth of Venus" and a lot of depictions of the Annunciation of Mary.
After the museum, we got really delicious paninis from a place a few blocks away. Then, we went to Duomo where we climbed all 493 steps to get to the top. The staircases were really curvy, and we couldn't stop laughing, which made it really difficult to climb stairs. Eventually, we made it to the top of the dome, and the view was absolutely incredible (I will upload pictures hopefully this week.)!! We ran into four other guys from our Roma group and some other UT people on top of the Duomo. [Oh, and Travis! Now that I know you read this (you creeper), we also ran into a guy from Stanford. But, he didn't know you. His loss.] The group relaxed there for a long time... about half an hour. Then, we climbed alllll the way back down the 493 steps. Then, the group of four (Alex, Stephen, Apu, and I) went to go see the inside of the cathedral. It was amazingly beautiful.
[Mu Epsilon Theta girls! I will send an email soon, but I'll write it here, too. I lit a candle and said a prayer for Mu Epsilon Theta in the cathedral. Then, I gave an offering of three euros from us. (One for the Father, one for the Son, one for the Holy Spirit.) I just wanted to let y'all know that prayers were being said for us from Europe. So, YAY!]
After the cathedral, we went to go see where the tombs of Michaelangelo, Rossini, Galileo, Machiavelli are located. The church was beautiful, as are most in Italia.
After seeing the tombs, the four of us got some gelato from a different place than the night before (it was delicious). Then, we walked across Ponte Vecchio bridge. The entire bridge is filled with pedestrians all looking into the jewelry shops that line the street. The jewelry was SHINY and beautiful. I was seriously contemplating buying some. It's probably a good thing that I didn't though. :)
The group wandered around Florence some more, and then headed back to the hostel. Then, we went swimming in the pool there. The pool area was really cool! It sounds silly, but the water changed colors. Even though the water was cold, we all had a really good time. We met two guys from Monterrey named Arturo and Juan, and I told them that two of my best friends were named Arturo and Juan. They didn't think it was as cool as I did, but they were really nice. We kept sitting in the sauna and then jumping in the pool (which was absolutely freezing).
After the pool, we went to go get changed, and then hung out in the hostel with all the people in the Plan II group. We played pool and danced for a bit, and we also met some really interesting people from Maine.
Then, we headed to bed.
I'm going to go work on my papers for a bit. I'll write about Sunday and Monday when I'm ready for another break. :)
I love you all!
Ciao,
Ashley
Safe in Roma
Hey y'all -
I have two papers due tomorrow, but I just wanted to drop a note to let y'all know that I am back home safely (in Roma). I'll update my blog with details from this AMAZING weekend soon, but I do want to get my papers worked on a little bit. (One is written, and just needs to be edited. But, the other one is in its beginning stages...)
Anyway, I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Ciao,
Ashley
PS - Roma got HOT today. Oh, joy.
I have two papers due tomorrow, but I just wanted to drop a note to let y'all know that I am back home safely (in Roma). I'll update my blog with details from this AMAZING weekend soon, but I do want to get my papers worked on a little bit. (One is written, and just needs to be edited. But, the other one is in its beginning stages...)
Anyway, I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Ciao,
Ashley
PS - Roma got HOT today. Oh, joy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
